picked up sda-srs's

[tom t]

hello folks,
i just picked up the sda-srs's in pa. there was some chat about them in the last month. at first i was not going to get them because they were not the 1.2's but after i drove down and saw them i picked them up. i knew how big they were from all the info i had on them but when i saw them they were huge!. bigger looking then what i was prepaired for. i have big infinitys now and they are pretty big but these are alot taller. the cond. of the speaker-- i would give a 8-9 out of ten,that nice. clean grills,all the drivers look good, alittle tacky some of them. i understand some windex will clean them up. i would like to know is do the surrounds on these hold up over time or do they fall apart like other speakers out there and i will be re-doing them some day. a quick look at them last night,they looked pretty good,but i dident clean them up yet. got home at 11:30, the speakers slept in the van. today will be the big day,cleaning them up and hooking them up. also, i take it polk dosent make the mid/bass and tweeters any more. if i need any later i have to go shopping for them. i will take pictures later,if someone wants to see tell me how to put on the site. thanks

[Polk65]

Good for you and welcome to the club.

Don't worry about the tackiness, it's normal. Spray windex on a soft towel then rub in a circular motion. You can do this on both the mid-woofers and the surrounds. Do not use armor all. Your surrounds are about 20 years old and should last a very long time. Polk offers replacement mid-woofers and tweeters but look slightly different. Watch the for sale area here or auctions elsewhere and you may find the original drivers. When you are posting a message, scroll down beneath the text box to [manage attachments]. Click it then browse to where your photo is to upload.

What gear are you planning to use?

Have you read the SRS manual? If not, read it and the addendum at our friend's website before you hook them up. http://polksda.com/manuals.shtml

[tom t]

thanks polk65, i will be using a b&k 202+ for the top and a soundcraftsmen 5002 for the bottom. i have infinitys rs2b's now that eat up alot of power.4 ohm,and 87 db and this combo drives them loud and clear and has been doing it for 14 years without breaking a sweat. thanks for the info

[engtaz]

Congrats you will love them.

[tom t]

thanks engtaz,im going to take pictures later and when my son gets home i will post them. the pictures will be taken befour i clean them up. i think they are in great shape for 20 years old. iv'e seen speakers badly beaten to death by owners but these are so big who would want to move them around. waiting for the wife to get home to help me getting them in the house.hope she ate her wheaties.

[Lasareath]

waiting for the wife to get home to help me getting them in the house.hope she ate her wheaties.

Oh man, You dont have any stairs to go up, do you?

A hand truck works wonders.

My Dad just put down a Butyl rubber roof on one of his Bluidings, it has 40 year guarantee. If Butyl rubber last for 40 years on a roof imagine how long it will last on your speaker surrounds!

What did you pay for the SRS's?

I payed low, $1258.00 but they were a mess.

Lasareath

[tom t]

13 steps and a hand truck. $1,600 , will post pictures later

[Lasareath]

If you can wrap the hand truck with some towels it would be a good idea otherwise you may mar the back.

[tom t]

thanks, will do that. as far as the wife helping,it did say for better or worst in the marrage contract.

[Lasareath]

thanks, will do that. as far as the wife helping,it did say for better or worst in the marrage contract.

HAHA, That's a good one!

[madmax]

If your stairs are carpeted you can lay the speaker on its back and push up the steps. Those rubber surrounds will last a long long long long time.

[tom t]

thanks max, they are in the house now. if someone gives me their e-maikladdress i have pictures ready to go. you can post them for me if you know. i have to run out now plus i would have to wait for my son to do it for me. wait to you see them!!!

[tom t]

sorry, that was e-mail address

[WilliamM2]

tom,
Down by the posting window, click "Go Advanced". Once there, scroll down and you will see a button "Manage Attachments". Click that and upload your files, very easy.

[tom t]

help, pictures are on desktop now,dont know how to file them. would be easyer if someone did it for me

[tom t]

i think i have the pictures. lets see

[tom t]

i think a picture was sent twice,o well. when you dond know what you are doing thats what happen. next to the infinitys here,they will be missed. wife is sleeping,so have to wait to blast myself out.

[tom t]

i see i need to check my spelling before i send the message out. i type fast and then send before i read it and then see all the mistakes,sorry. so this is how they look befour clean-up. the infinitys are rs2b's about the same year,1986. they sound great and have a big sound stage,bass is awesome. but they are power hungry and need alot of power. they get loud if you push them but then you have to worry about blowing the emim's or emit's and of corse infinity dosent make them anymore. orange county speaker has new diaphragm's for them. the polks will get louder for sure but the infinitys will give them a run for the money in overall sound. its going to be interesting

[danger boy]

very nice looking SRS's tom t.. but all models of SDA's do not need to be toed inward like you would a regular speaker.. face them straight forward.. about a foot or more from the rear wall.. and at least 2 ro 3 feet from any side wall (if possible of course).

do you have the SDA cable ? if not, get one.. it makes a huge difference in soundstage.

[tom t]

yes, i have it. the speakers are not in their place yet. i just put them in the room next to the infinitys. i will take care of it all soon

[tom t]

i see you have the silk domes that are the up-grade tweeters. are they just a simple swap out with the ones i have and are they from polk themselves. whats the cost, i might concider doing the changeover if its a big sound improvement

[danger boy]

yes, I swapped out the old SL2000 tweeters for the replacement silk dome ones... it was super easy.. just unscrew and unplug the old tweeters.. plug and rescrew in the new ones.. takes less than 5 mins per tweeter.

each silk tweeter can be purchased from Polk Audio for I think about $48 each. so you're looking at about $400 to do both of your speakers. it's worth it too. I highly recommend it.

if you call Polk to order them.. mention first you are a club Polk member.. for a nice discount on parts.

[Lasareath]

Great Find Tom!, They look really Great!

[tom t]

thank you all, everybody has been very helpfull. i have them hooked up now and the wife is listening to her head banging music,--metallica,led zepplin,ac-dc, all that stuff. they play loud for sure!!. i listened to some of my jazz only for a few minutes to see how they compair to the infinity's. i will say right up front that they do play louder,which i expected. i will say the infinitys do seem to have more bass boom and slam but it does have a bass eq with the system and you can add bass gain and contour. my preamp has no tone controls so the polks are stright up. but there is bass,and plenty of it. as for mids and highs, both very good but at the same volumn infin's maybe alittle smoother, those emim's and emit's are very hard to beat. both speakers were made the same and both cost $3000 so neither one blow's the other away. its a matter of which one you like more. BUT THE POLKS WILL PLAY ALOT LOUDER AND I LIKE THAT, so they are #1 for now. i will get the better tweeters soon and help them out a bit. thanks to all.

[read-alot]

Way to go there tom t. They look great.

Darquekight a respected member here offers a SDA Compendium that makes a great required reading for all followers of the Matt Polk SDA crusade.

If you don't have one already and want one just hold up your hand, he will answer.

[tom t]

thanks read-alot, here they are in their final resting place. drivers all cleaned up ,wood all oiled up. they do sound good. the sound is so much different then the infinitys that im going to need time to get use to them. ive had the infins for 17 years and you just get use to the sound. ive had other speakers hooked up for a while to hear a change in sound,and they all sounded great. i always thought it would be time for a change until i hooked the infin's back up. and then,wham- they sounded better then them all. i like the sound of these polks,not as much as the infin's right now,but i think they will grow on me. also the better tweeters will sound better,im sure

[heiney9]

but i think they will grow on me. also the better tweeters will sound better,im sure

This is very true the silk dome's are much smoother and coherent. The chunk of change required to change them all out is large but it's def. worth it since you have a pristine pair of SRS's to put them in.

Once you get some listening time in they will surprise you :)

H9

[tom t]

yes, im going to get the silk's. i told my wife not to get me something to big for my birthday,that woman just dosent listen!!

[Lasareath]

Tom,

You should be able to improve the bass by using spikes that go through your carpet and into the subfloor.

Las

[JimBRICK]

Damn those things look impressive, I can't wait to find a pair close to me. I love BIG speakers

[tom t]

spike's!! ok,will give them a try. my wife said never again can i buy big speakers. i guess ill have to send her back home to her dad!

[F1nut]

You need to move them closer to the back wall, 5 or 6 inches away. That will increase the bass response. You need 3 feet from the side wall and at least 6 feet apart and NO toe in. Read the manual, it explains proper set up.

[Lasareath]

Also people have reported that the closer to the back wall that you put them the more bass you will get. I can't vouch for that one, mine are like 18" from the back wall. When music is lacking bass I turn on my Sunfire sub.

[tom t]

its well known that moving a speaker closer to the back wall gives off better bass. the speakers are eight feet apart,i though they would like alittle room around them so they are about 20 inches from the back wall. i will move them back some. dont get me wrong on this,the speakers sound great just not perfect--yet. they will get better in time,just have to work on it

[madmax]

That left side wall is messing with them a lot. They would probably sound much better if the left one was about 3 to 4 feet from the wall and the right one right at the corner.
madmax

[tom t]

thet are two and a half feet from the left wall now,i can shidt everything to the right another foot . the right side opens up into the dining room,no wall there so what it is is what it is. i did have an idea??. i dont think many are going to like it but it can work. an equalizer!!. i have a soundcraftsmen 10 bander. i dont like the idea of putting it in the signal path but you never know. it will give you some control over the bottom end,can boost up the few bottoms octave's. has anyone tried useing one with these speakers. just a though.

[tom t]

need spell check!! i ment shift to the right,and they are two feet apart

[tom t]

guys, just wanted to let you know i was listening for a while and things are starting to settle down. the sound is getting better by the minute. my dave grusin migration cd,which i think is a great cd sounded real good. he has alot of bass energy in hiss stuff and it comes through pretty good. after listening to about five of my favorite jazz cd's i can say im going to like these speakers. the better tweeters will put them over the edge. and i realize i dont have to blast them,a decient volumn and they throw a big sound stage.

[engtaz]

Tell her the speakers make her look sexier what ever it takes for the dreaded WAF.

[tom t]

she dosent mind the big speakers,the wife loves audio equipment, it was the lugging them up the stairs that did her in. i have to say, my wife has been a saint all the years. she just about goes along with all of my brain storms until the price gets crazy. then she shuts down the bank book.

[engtaz]

You got a keeper. Next time lug a friend along.

[Loud & Clear]

she dosent mind the big speakers,the wife loves audio equipment, it was the lugging them up the stairs that did her in.

Try giving her a hand the next time and she'll let you spend more of her money.

Those SDA's look really nice. The tweeter upgrade isn't subtle. Placement makes such a differene, and you'll probably find yourself moving them bit by bit over a long period of time before you finally nail down your perfect positioning.

[danger boy]

the SRS's take some getting used to.. when I first got mine.. i hated the mid's.. they were way to forward.. after going thru several different interconnects and used stereo gear.. i finally found the right balance in the mids, highs and now i'm working on the getting more bass output.. so it does take time to get everything sounding just right i've found with SDA's.

[tom t]

thats good loud & clear,i guess i should give her a hand next time. so right danger boy,its going to take a few weeks to get things right. will be fun messing around with it.

[schwarcw]

Congrats Tom t! They look terrific! You have some nice electronics too! Good luck and enjoy

[tom t]

thank you carl

[F1nut]

i did have an idea??. i dont think many are going to like it but it can work. an equalizer!!.

That's a great way to lose all respect around here.

[dudeinaroom]

drool. I'd hate to lug those up stair. I had to lug my 2a's up a flight of stair by myself I could not Imagen doing it with those.

Enjoy those puppies,
dude

[snow]

First off congrats on the sda srs find. There getting more rare by the day, lots of demand very little supply for any of the sda srs models.There in very nice condition also.

It will take a little bit to find the exact right spot for these to sound there best, even a couple of inches can make a diiference. Also the right pre and amp combo makes a world of difference. Once you find it though it will be quite the experience.

HAPPY LISTENING SNOW

[george daniel]

Congratulations on the SDA's, Hope you enjoy them,,I would NOT use the EQ,play around with placement, be patient,you will know when they are "right". I had the same problem,played around with them and then one day when we were watching a movie (2ch),my wife got up to answer the door,of course the "knock" was on the movie,,I knew then that the placement was pretty good,even though the placement was not exactly as the manual stated. Have fun and enjoy. :)

[tom t]

the eq is out guys,just though i throw it out there. as of now they sound pretty good. ive moved them around a bit,alittle here and alittle there,they are coming around. getting better with every song i play. i think by next week it will all come together. with the infinity rs2b's, the soundcraftsmen 5002 for the bass, at 12 o'clock volumn the led's were lit up across the board,and the tru-clip lights would blink on peaks. with the polks at 12 o'clock,amp running at about 50%. just goes to show the difference in efficiency between the two. also the 2'bs are 4 ohm and 87 db. power hungry to say the least. but i have to say that amp drove them woffers for 15 years and never complained. it does the job!

[tom t]

here is what drives it all. its a simple rig,but it seems to work well. a b&k202+ for the top and the soundcraftsmen for the bottom. the superphon revelation 2 preamp is simple but quite good. its very quite and smooth with a great sound stage. its a stan warren design and very good for the money. we all know that tuner?? sansui 717. i had a sony es single disk player but got tired of one disk all the time so i picked up the 5 disk es player. alot better now. its all under $2000 but it sounds good and works well. yes,better will sound better,but im happy with what i have for now. if its not broke,dont fix it

[madmax]

i can shidt everything to the right another foot .

Just shifting the left speaker over a little further will help. I did a lot of playing with mine and found that up to 3 feet caused a lot of problems. Having them closer together shouldn't be a problem unless you sit far away.
madmax

[Lasareath]

My 1C's are 77" apart in the center, but they are only 12" from the walls on the sides, I know this is not ideal. But I can't help it, My Projector's screen is 72" at it's 16's dimension (16:9)

But they sound DAMN GOOD!!!!, I really love these 1C's, I hope the 1.2TL's sound better or at least the same.

Las

[tom t]

everything was moved to the right a foot,sound is very good. big sound stage and clear. bass is good, mids and highs are good also. every speaker has its good points and bad,these speakers do most things very well,but are not perfect in every way. there are other speakers that do some things better and i can say by now that the infinitys have better bass. its wide,deep, and very powerfull and if you are sitting on the couch across the room 20 feet away you can feel it move. the sound stage on the polks are bigger. i know everybody here like their polks but if you heard the infinitys you would know what i mean. and it could be just me,10 other people could listen and like the polk bass better then me. the inf bass is fuller to me, the polk is clean and leaner to me. i like them both for different types of music i guess. im enjoying them now. very,very loud

[danger boy]

so many things come into play in the final sound you hear.. i think it's been mentioned here several times.. bass in the SRS's is shy at best... at least that's been my experience.. but then again.. so many other factors come into play also. room acoustics, source material, cables, wires, electronics...

I agree though.. at least for me.. lack of bass has been an issue.

[tom t]

danger-boy, you are correct in what you say. the bass is there, i guess i was expecting it to be more or heavier sounding concidering the size of them. just think of what it would sound like if polk designed them with a 15 inch woofer in there. then it would really move some air. the infinitys have two 10 inch woofers which equal a 15 inch driver.

[candyliquor35m]

Congrats on the speaks and the fun you're having getting them set up. I've always been impressed with the bass separation I get from the sda's. I can hear the bass drum or bass guitar like there's a jam session going on right in my living room. Kind of like the mtv unplugged sessions. Up close and personal. I'm glad polk didn't make the bass overpowering so the listener can add a sub or eq for personal taste. jmo.

[madmax]

Bass is a funny thing, you get used to what you have been hearing. I'll admit with some amps/positioning the bass can be shy. What you may notice is that you can hear a lot of detail in the bass but may not feel a lot of it. It is a strange beast but worth getting to know. It would be interesting to listen very closely to the detail of both sets and compare.
madmax

[tom t]

madmax, you hit it right on the nail. now that you mention it, thats what it is. the bass is very clear and alot of good detail but i wasent getting that heavy weight i felt with the infinitys. maybe they are actually more balanced overall. a quick a/b compairson would be a pain in the butt to do unless you had enough stuff to have both going at the same time. i guess i will have to sell my infins to pay for these. good buy good friends

[tom t]

the infamous infinity's im going to miss so so so much.

[madmax]

The bass is very quick and tight on the SDA's. I have not heard the infinities so can't really say anything there.

I still love mine after 15 years.
madmax

[tom t]

and what part of the country do you live in madmax, if its under three days drive come and listen. lasareath---- these are the ones you were telling everybody about from pa on e-bay. they dident sell on e-bay besause no pictures

[tom t]

the silk tweeters,are they model # rdo194-1 ?? i also heard to pick up the polyswitches, what are they ??

[engtaz]

those infinity are very nice. How do you like ribbon tweets.

[tom t]

they sound great. very smooth,detailed,fast.

[engtaz]

Compare ribbon vs silk tweets

[tom t]

cannot do that, haven't heard silk tweeters

[hearingimpared]

Damn Tom I don't know how I missed this thread!!! Congrats on the find. I didn't read all the posts here so I'm taking the lazy way out. . . are they plain SRSs or 1.2s or 1.2 TLs?

[tom t]

plain srs's

[tom t]

also, im chatting with you on the other post, remember--bushkill,pa

[hearingimpared]

Yes I know. . . did anyone recommend Darqueknight's "SDA Compendium 2nd Edition" yet. If not GET IT!~!!! Required reading for SDA owners. It is chock full of useful information and the information that doesn't apply to your particular set will get you salivating for the other SDA models. Plus he goes into great detail on upgrading/updating SRSs and SDAs in general.

Excellant reading material.

[tom t]

yes, i think i know what you are referring to

[hearingimpared]

yes, i think i know what you are referring to

PM Darqueknight, it will be the best few extra bucks spent since your SRS acquistion.

[Lasareath]

and what part of the country do you live in madmax, if its under three days drive come and listen. lasareath---- these are the ones you were telling everybody about from pa on e-bay. they dident sell on e-bay besause no pictures

Yeah, Sellers need pictures to sell item on ebay. Especially when it's used Speakers that sell for $1600.

[Lasareath]

Damn Tom I don't know how I missed this thread!!!

I bet you missed it because you have the old man resolution on your pc, after the 3rd post it disappears under your taskbar ;)














Just kidding!

[hearingimpared]

You're a regular riot Alice!!!!

[danger boy]

but then tom, you've had the Infinity's for how long? so you are very used to their unique sound and bass output. I like some bass, but not alot ... but once in a while i run into a CD i'm listening to.. and I can tell right away, that the music is lacking in bass.. it could be the way it was mastered on the CD too of course.

[Lasareath]

You're a regular riot Alice!!!!

Har-de-har-har!

[tom t]

how about these guys, think they will sound good

[tom t]

tyr this picture,it will open up i think

[tom t]

sorry, i posted a picture elsewere on the site and i cant seem to post it here

[tom t]

some pictures,not sure how big they are going to be

[dbnh]

some pictures,not sure how big they are going to be

Not big at all. FYI - the bottom pic's link is currently non-operational.

[tom t]

very nice dbnh. im luckey i got the pictures on at all. not good at all this stuff.

[JimBRICK]

Tom did I miss in the thread but I didnt see what you did with the infinitys???

[tom t]

i have them right here in my home,the ones i relpaced with the polk's. is that the ones you are talking about

[dbnh]

very nice dbnh. im luckey i got the pictures on at all. not good at all this stuff.Yeah, I'm not the best at it, either. :eek:

At least it's nice they're out there - wouldn't mind hearing those speakers...

[tom t]

im trying to get this picture,but dont know how

[tom t]

ok,it worked,take a look at them. i would sell the house,wife,kids and walk to work for a year for them

[dbnh]

I think that cactus to the right of the speaker was much larger until the amps started cranking :D - geez, you might need an small auditorium for those floorstanders.

[tom t]

each side has--6-12 in woofers, 12 emim midrange's, 36 emit tweeter's, a built in 2000 watt amp for the woofers and you have to supply the amo for the high end. 7 feet tall and 2000 lbs for the system. how sick is that.

[tom t]

thats a good one dbnh

[tom t]

one more song and the house is going to crumble

[tom t]

another pair. maybe the guy should spend some money on a bigger room. at 2,000 lbs, how the hell do you move them

[tom t]

now here is some room for the speakers to breathe. it must be nice.

[JimBRICK]

So are those infinity's up for grabs???? and where are you located :)

[tom t]

yes, im going to end up selling them. i really dont want to but the deal was that if i picked up other speakers they would have to go. if your in canada,im a long ways away. im in bushkill,pa. next to the jeresy border. ihe infin's are great speakers and in mint cond.

[tom t]

there are pictures of them further up in the post here

[JimBRICK]

DAMN how about you come visit me this summer, I buy the speakers, you bring them and the family and the steaks and beers are on me :)

[tom t]

and how far in canada are you???

[JimBRICK]

on the border of michigan. :)

[danger boy]

another pair. maybe the guy should spend some money on a bigger room. at 2,000 lbs, how the hell do you move them

that center channel speaker is bigger than the damn TV!!!!!!!!! :p

[JimBRICK]

postal code is p6c4n9 if you wanna mapquest it

[hearingimpared]

another pair. maybe the guy should spend some money on a bigger room. at 2,000 lbs, how the hell do you move them

Not just that, this person has squeezed 10lbs of shite into a 5 lb bag. Look at all the equipment in the rack!!!

[tom t]

i guess all the money went into the speakers

[tom t]

danger boy, i dident even notice the speaker on the floor. i guess you have to but it somewere

[tom t]

jimbrick, i will look at it all, but its a long shot

[JimBRICK]

HAHAHA I know what are you going to be asking for the bad boys?

[tom t]

the center speaker looks like a floor speaker laying down. this guy is sick but rich

[tom t]

the infinitys,$1,200 and you need two amps to drive them and they better be decent

[tom t]

jimbrick, you are 900 miles away and 14 hours drive

[JimBRICK]

1200 WOW ..........Would they fit in a durango?

road trip could be fun for me. I can stop in niagara for some casino too :)

is there a product website for these??? I checked the infinity website and nothing for that model number

[tom t]

if you can put the back seat down, i have the box's for them also. plus there is a bass eq that goes between the preamp and amps. the speakers were $3,200 new in 1987 and i have had them since 1990. the sound is superb. the speaker is 55 inches high,24 inches wide and about 15 inches deep and 100 lps

[tom t]

some pictures

[tom t]

jinbrick,e-mail me at tjtab@ptd.net. i dont know how to respond to the e-mail you sent me through polk site

[tom t]

yes, www.infinity-classics.de its in german, but you can find your way around and see pictures and specs